November 17th, 2005
At a time like this I really should remember the source (all the better perhaps, embarassing to remember someone's name but then get the quote wrong), but it escapes me which comedian said the following (not an exact quote): "A joke exists in space and time, when playing to an audience, if you tell a joke at the precise correct moment, and you tell it exactly the way it should be told, you will make them laugh. But if you mess it up and make a mistake, you will not get a second chance."
Cometh the punchline: the same is true for blogging. A blog entry is an idea, in fact it's more like an idea for an idea if you will. If you blog while the idea is fresh, you can make it work. This implies starting with a piece of raw material and completing the idea as you go along. But if you try to develop the idea first and then blog it, you can't get it right. No, it's not exactly like comedy, but it's similar, so I stand by the opening analogy, because a blog also exists in time. If you have an idea and you don't blog it within a day is gone, it's over, you can try but it won't be any good and you won't be happy with it because the thoughts behind the idea, fuelling its evolution as you blog, are no longer with you.
This is why putting off an idea is difficult. If you have to, write it down but don't think about it. Pick it up when the time is right and then try to get up to speed with your line of thought. Don't try to remember what you were thinking, go back to square one and brainstorm. In most cases it doesn't work and it's no good, so beware.
Very true
I dunno, I get what you're saying but once I get a blog idea I still think about it for a while. Usually develop the idea, think up a few sentences and phrases for certain bits. Start to link it up. Once I sit down to blog, I'm mostly just joining up certain events and sentences I already have in my mind and finding the best way to do that.
And even after all that, I read, re-read and re-edit. Often after I've already published the post....
Well it seems that you have a different process than I do, with different goals probably. To me, a blog is much of a spur of the moment thing, if I have a point to make there's usually just one and I develop others as I go along. Yours are more like stories, requiring more focus than I'm willing to set aside for this. :D